1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an integrated lighting control system which depends upon power reserve stage and, more particularly, to an integrated lighting control technology which enables integrated control of lighting by reflecting power supply status information in order to control lighting power demands accordingly and monitoring the controlled results in real time.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Republic of Korea has a power reserve scale divided into 5 stages in order to prevent incidents such as power blackouts, etc. Usually, the power reserve, when exceeding 5 million kW, is considered as being in a stable stage while an emergency alert is issued when the power reserve falls below 5 million kW. In detail, the emergency alert is classified according to the power reserve level: a preparation stage at 4˜5 million kW, an attention stage at 3˜4 million kW, a caution stage at 2˜3 million kW, an alert stage at 1˜2 million kW, and an urgency stage at less than 1 million kW, with action guidelines for each stage supplied for the government, corporations, and the general population.
As such, the power demand management system finally aims to stabilize electricity supply and demand by fairly diverting daytime peak demand in the summer, a season where there is a lot of transient power usage, towards demand at a midnight time slot so as to achieve an electricity load balance, and by improving capacity factors, with the consequent reduction or delay of a demand and investment for electricity sources. As used herein, the term “electricity load balance” refers to a reduction in difference between maximum and minimum loads of the entire power usage. Load management for load balancing includes a maximum demand suppression program and a maximum demand transition program. The maximum demand suppression program is structured so as to suppress the maximum demand by seasons or time slots, and includes a load control charge support system, direct load control, remote air-conditioner control, and a provision of a maximum power management device, etc. The maximum power transition program is configured to transfer power demand during peak hours to light load hours so as to reduce the maximum demand during daytime peaks and increase loads at midnight, and includes the program of, for example, spreading cold storage type cooling equipment.
As described above, there have been increasing demands for measures for achieving the final target of power demand management and preventing enormous economic loss due to the occurrence of blackouts, and thus increasing demands for a method and an apparatus for controlling lighting according to the power reserve state and for resolving inefficient power problems attributed to power demand forecast errors.
A related art may be found in Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2013-0005769, which discloses a smart lighting control method.